RapidKL females-only bus service trial till end-month

KUALA LUMPUR: Rapid KL is conducting a trial run for its first women-only bus service -- the Rapid Lady Bus or Rapid Bas Wanita -- from today until Dec 31.

"The Rapid Lady Bus is an add-on to the normal bus operations, and provides value-for-money service for the public," RapidKL Bus said in a statement, here, today.

The trial run is being conducted on seven bus routes with high passenger volumes. There are two bus services in the morning, which are at 6.45am and 7.30am while for the evening service, it will be at 6 pm and 6.45 pm.

The seven bus routes for the morning services are U1 (Pinggiran Batu Caves Hub), U8 (Damansara Damai Hub), U22 (Sri Nilam Hub), U40 (Kajang Hub), U60 (Puchong Utama Hub), U80 (UiTM Shah Alam Hub) and U81 (Subang Suria Hub).

For the evening services, the routes are U1 (Medan Pasar Hub), U8 (Medan Pasar Hub), U22 (Jalan Hang Lekiu Hub), U40(Pasar Seni Hub), U60 (Pasar Seni Hub), U80 (Pasar Seni Hub) and U81 (Pasar Seni Hub).

RapidKL Bus chief operating officer Datuk Mohamed Hazlan Mohamed Hussain said the special service was to provide more comfort and security to women passengers, and to protect them from sexual harassment and jostling with male passengers during peak hours.

He said the Rapid Lady Bus service would not affect the current bus services as it would be using additional buses.

Although the bus service is only for women, boys below 12 years old are permitted to board the buses accompanied by their female companions or relatives.

A "women-only" bus icon will be placed on the bus windshield, window, doorway and on the LED screen in the buses to differentiate the special bus from the normal ones. Bernama